NZ Army “United Kingdom” XV start with win

With World War I ending in November New Zealand troops serving in Britain organised themselves into a “United Kingdom XV” team. The name distinguished them from another New Zealand team, the “Divisional XV” comprising troops who had been serving with the New Zealand Division in Europe.

The “United Kingdom XV”, played five matches before meeting the “Divisional XV” on January 18 1919 in a trial match from which the New Zealand Services team was chosen. The “United Kingdom XV’s” match against the Royal Navy (Harwich) on December 16 1918 was the first of their matches and resulted in a comfortable 30 – 6 win.